


Imaginary Boyfriend

by Lerysakon



Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-25
Updated: 2018-01-25
Packaged: 2019-03-09 09:22:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,533
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13478457
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lerysakon/pseuds/Lerysakon
Summary: Ino has had enough of Sakura's lies and is determined to 'help' Sakura in her love life, or lack thereof. But Sakura insists that she didn't need help. Does she?





	Imaginary Boyfriend

**Author's Note:**

> This was posted on my old FF.net account and I decided to repost it here too. I wrote this years ago - like Shippuuden-wasn't-even-halfway-through years ago - but it had a good number of reviews for a oneshot so I though that it could be one of the fics that make it here on my AO3 too. I did a bit of editing though, of course, but not much changed.

"I already told you, Ino, I don't want to!" The pink-haired 18-year-old groaned as she massaged the bridge of her nose. She gave her blonde friend a quick glare before turning her attention back to the principal who was giving a speech.

It was their first day of senior year and Haruno Sakura was already having a bad day. How could she not? Her best friend, Yamanaka Ino, had been pestering her since they arrived at school. The girl just wouldn't get off her case! Even now, while Principal Tsunade is giving a speech to welcome the students, Ino is still persistent.

"Come on, Forehead! You're a senior now! You're missing half of your life!" Ino exclaimed in a whisper. It was fortunate that they took a seat at the very back. This way, they wouldn't attract attention to themselves.

"That's precisely why I don't want to humour your idea, Ino!" Sakura hissed back, making sure not to use her nickname for the blonde to make it clear that she was serious. "We're seniors. We should be more focused on our studies."

"At this rate you'll grow up into a single old cat-lady. Come on, even Naruto was able to get into a relationship before you did! And this is  _Naruto_  we're talking about! _Naruto!_ " Ino reasoned, resisting the urge to throw her hands up in the air in frustration.

Sakura sighed as she massaged her temples. "You're wrong, Ino. How many times do I have to tell you that I don't need any of the guys you plan to set-up with me because I  _already_  have a boyfriend?"

The blonde snorted at this. "You've been saying that for two years, Forehead. You should really change that excuse because, this time, I'm not letting you off the hook."

"It's not an excuse!" Sakura almost yelled in irritation. Luckily, she had enough control to keep her voice down despite her annoyance; which is actually a great feat on her part considering her short temper.

"Yeah, sure... you've been saying that since first year but we still haven't met this 'boyfriend' of yours. Really, Sakura, you can do so much better than that old excuse."

Sakura, at that moment, didn't know which one to do: pull her own hair out or pull Ino's. The latter was very tempting. However, at that present time, the assembly ended and everyone stood up to head towards their respective classrooms. Sakura immediately jumped to her feet and rapidly walked out of the hall, leaving her friend.

She knew that, like every beginning of the year since they became friends, her group would always meet even for just a few moments before heading to their classrooms. But she didn't care about that right now. She didn't want to be near Ino until she cooled down. Besides, their friends would probably agree with the blonde about this issue.

Since the start of high school, Ino had been annoying her to get a guy already. She didn't get why it was so crucial to be in a relationship so she repeatedly told Ino that she didn't want to be in one. Sakura had always been the studious type. She was one of the smartest students in their batch. Being into studies because she wanted to become a doctor one day, Sakura didn't really have time for Ino's set-ups.

Her lack of romantic relationship didn't have anything to do with her appearance. In fact, with her porcelain skin, sparkling emerald eyes and vibrant roseate locks she was sought after as much as her equally pretty friends. Despite this, she still refused to be involved with anyone.

However, sometime during their first year, Ino became persistent. Very persistent. And a very persistent Ino was not something one would want to deal with. Dealing with that side of her was very much, as Ino's boyfriend would say, _troublesome_. So, Sakura did the first thing that came to her mind: she blurted out that she already had a boyfriend who studied in a different school. She told Ino that the relationship was a long distance one since they can only see each other during breaks because of the difference in location.

At first, Ino was ecstatic to find out about this information and was even gushing about how romantic it was. Even her other friends were delighted. However, as time passed and Sakura refused to reveal any more information about this lover of hers, except that he studied in an all-boys school because he had a fan club he wanted to avoid, they became skeptical. And they became convinced that she was just making up her imaginary boyfriend. Though, they listened to her excuse to humour her.

But now that they were in their last year of high school Ino didn't want to listen to her _so-called_ excuses anymore, thus, their earlier argument. Ino confronted her with the subject yet again and Sakura had enough.

A lecture about her lack of romantic relationship was  _not_  her idea of starting the year right.

With that, Sakura sighed again and continued her trek down the corridors to head to her classroom. Her fingers unconsciously moved to her neck and played with her silver necklace.

 

* * *

 

Sakura sighed in relief when she found out that, among her group of friends, only Uzumaki Naruto, Hyuuga Hinata and Akimichi Chouji were in her class. At least they wouldn't bother her about her love life, or lack thereof. Hinata, who sat right behind her, smiled at her sympathetically. Sakura figured that Ino must've ranted to them about their conversation.

"Don't worry, Sakura-chan, Ino-chan will get over it." Hinata softly assured her.

"Hopefully." Sakura muttered under her breath.

 

* * *

 

Fortunately for Sakura, Hinata was indeed right. Ino seemed to forget about their earlier argument and was now excitedly blabbing about a transfer student in her class.

"He was just so hot! Not as hot as my Shika-kun, but still hot nonetheless!" Ino ranted, making wild gestures to exaggerate her words.

"We get it, Ino, you got a new handsome classmate; big deal." Tenten snorted as she picked out the sweet omelette from her bento. "Besides, you've already got a boyfriend. I don't think he appreciates you ranting about some other guy."

Despite being in college already, Tenten and her boyfriend, Hyuuga Neji, still opted to spend their lunch time with their group of friends. The College Department was still part of Konoha Academy and was still in the same campus. The University had its own cafeteria but Neji and Tenten still chose to join them.

"Yeah right." It was the blonde's turn to snort derisively this time. "It's not like he can hear me." She said as she gestured at the young man beside her who had his head on the table and was softly snoring.

"Good point."

"Anyway, he certainly got half of the female population talking about him. On his first day nonetheless! Isn't that amazing?" Ino started again. The occupants of their table groaned again.

"Please! Make her stop!" Inuzuka Kiba whined as Aburame Shino, who sat right beside the canine-like boy, silently nodded in agreement.

"You know as much as I do that she won't stop when she's gushing about a supposed-handsome guy. This is  _Ino-pig_  we're talking about." Sakura pointed out.

Said 'pig' narrowed her eyes at the rosette. "What's that supposed to mean, Forehead?"

"It means whatever you want it to mean, Pig."

"At least I show interest in guys. If I didn't know any better, I'd say you swing  _that_  way." Ino sniped. At this statement, several of the table's occupants coughed in shock. The most comical, and disgusting, reaction was that of Naruto's. He had been busy  _inhaling_  his ramen when he heard Ino's words, thus, leading to him sputtering out the contents of his mouth.

"Holy crap... it's not like that, is it Sakura-chan?" Naruto asked.

Sakura's eyes widened at her friend's accusation but soon gained back her composure. She had been taken aback by it but she calmly replied. "Not that there's anything wrong with liking girls, but it's certainly good that you know better then."

Ino was about to say something else when a green blur stopped her. Right in front of Sakura stood a guy clad in a green jumpsuit. The College Department didn't require uniforms.

"My lovely Cherry Blossom! Your youth still shines like the ever brilliant radiance of the sun! How have you been?" Rock Lee greeted as he took Sakura's hand and kissed it.

Sakura smiled at him. "I've been fine, Lee. How about you?"

"Ah! Your concern for my well-being touches me so! I am still as youthfully fine as ever!" Lee then stood straighter and determination was evident in his eyes. "My dear Cherry Blossom, would you do me the honour of going on a date with me?"

Tenten rolled her eyes at this while Hinata and Neji forced Naruto down from throttling Lee. Everyone in their group knew that Naruto was like the girl's overprotective brother.

"No way, Bushy-Brows! I don't allow it! Nu uh! I forbid you from going out with Sakura-chan!" He yelled, trying to pry his arm off of Neji's vice-like grip. "You stay away from her!"

He was ignored by Sakura as she gave Lee a sad smile. "I'm sorry, Lee, but I only think of you as a friend."

For a moment, a crestfallen look came over Lee's face but was soon wiped away by that of sheer determination. " _Yosh_! I shall work harder! I will never give up until I have made Sakura-san fall in love with me."

"Lee... please... just sit down." Tenten groaned as she pointed at the space beside Neji. Lee grinned at her before bounding over to the spot she pointed at.

"He never gives up, does he?"

"No." Sakura sighed and whispered: "He's sweet and all but I just can't like him in a romantic way, you know?"

"So the guy you like in a romantic way is your imaginary boyfriend?"

Sakura slammed her hand on the table, making her friends jump slightly in surprise. They weren't listening to the two girls' conversation but Sakura's action got their attention.

"I already told you, Ino. I have a boyfriend and he's  _not_  imaginary."

"Really, Sakura-chan. You've been saying that since we were in first year, you can drop the act, you know. We can convince Ino not to meddle in your love life." Naruto stated. Sakura sent him a scathing glare.

"First of all, I can convince Ino on my own without your help, thank you very much. And second, what makes you think I'm making this up? I do have a boyfriend and he's real so deal with it!"

"Then why haven't we met him? Why haven't you introduced us to him?" Kiba asked.

Sakura sighed again. "As I said before, he goes to an exclusive school for boys in Oto. I can't possibly introduce you to him when he's miles away! And you're all busy during the breaks that you can't come with me to Oto to meet him."

"Then why can't you give us a name when we ask you?" Naruto countered.

"Let's just say he's quite well-known. And we'd rather reveal our relationship when  _both_  of us are present. Besides, when I introduce him to you I want him to be here in person."

"Which is impossible." Ino muttered but Sakura was still able to catch it and her eyes narrowed.

"Are you saying that you still don't believe me?"

"We can't exactly believe you when you haven't even shown any evidence for the past two years. You can't expect us to believe that." The blonde girl replied.

Wanting to stop a brewing fight, since this isn't the first time that this argument occurred, Hinata stood up and asked them to calm down. "Please Ino-chan, Sakura-chan, stop fighting. Ino-chan, we can't force Sakura-chan into something she is unwilling to do and Sakura –chan, Ino-chan is only looking out for you in her own way."

After a couple of seconds, both girls listened to the female Hyuuga.

"I guess you're right, Hinata-chan, sorry. My temper just got the better of me." Sakura said.

"Yeah... me too." Ino agreed. Hinata smiled at the two of them before sitting down.

"Anyway, Ino, you didn't exactly finish telling us about this guy in your class." Tenten broke the silence. The topic made Neji growl but Tenten gave him a look that said 'I'm trying to lighten up the mood here so suck it up, Hyuuga!'

It seemed to work since Ino cheered up immediately. "Oh yeah! Did I tell you that he's some celebrity as well? He comes from a really prominent family, you know."

"Really now? Must be stuck up then." Kiba commented.

"Kiba-kun, don't judge!" Hinata scolded. Kiba blushed in embarrassment for being reprimanded by the once shy girl while Neji smirked approvingly at his cousin.

"I never really got the chance to talk to him personally since he was always surrounded by girls. He's annoyed at them though, I can tell." Ino informed them. "Oh wait, I heard that he came from Oto! Maybe we can ask him about Forehead's 'boyfriend'.

Sakura's eyes widened in shock.

"So, what's his name?" Tenten asked, now genuinely curious who this rapidly-growing-in-popularity student was.

Among their group, only Ino and Shikamaru had classes with this transfer student so no one else knew about him.

"His name is—" But before the blonde can finish her statement, several deafening screams interrupted her.

"Sasuke-sama~!" Half of the female population squealed.

"'Sasuke-sama'?" Sakura asked in confusion.

Ino nodded. "That's him over there, Uchiha Sasuke." She pointed at a male student their age. He had raven hair that was spiked at the back and several strands framed his handsome face. His dark eyes regarded the general female population in annoyance as he stepped into the cafeteria.

Ino sighed in dreamy manner, Sakura gaped, Tenten regarded him approvingly and Hinata gasped slightly. They had to admit, he was handsome. Although, in their opinion, not as handsome as their respective boyfriends.

Naruto frowned at his girlfriend's reaction. "Ne, Hinata-chan, you really think he's handsome?"

Hinata smiled at him with a hint of blush staining her cheeks. "He's not as handsome as you, Naruto-kun."

Naruto slightly blushed at that and grinned at the female Hyuuga and gave her a kiss on the cheek. This made Hinata turn several shades of red.

Neji, on the other hand, glared at the back of Tenten's head. Feeling this, she turned around and raised a questioning brow. He didn't respond but his eyes narrowed even more. The female brunette rolled her eyes at him. "Oh please, Neji, I don't go for younger guys. Besides, he's not my type." She said and gave him a peck on the lips before turning to Ino, missing the hint of pink on Neji's face.

"But I've got to admit, Ino, he is hot." Tenten commented, ignoring the glare that Neji was directing at her back yet again.

"I know right? He is definitely eye-candy, right Forehead?" She turned to see her pink-haired friend gaping,  _outright gaping_ , at the sight of the transfer student. She smirked at this and called Sakura's attention. "Oooh, so Forehead really is straight after all. I bet you want to leave that imaginary boyfriend of yours for that hunk of a man!"

This snapped Sakura out of her daze and she glared at her best friend. "Shut up, Ino-pig." Sakura snapped before returning to her lunch. However, a moment or two passed when a new presence graced their table. All of them looked up to see the transfer student, Uchiha Sasuke, looking really annoyed with a red-haired girl clutching onto his arm.

"Hello losers." The girl greeted. She received either bored looks or heated glares in response.

"Get lost Karin." Sakura growled while giving Karin a very terrifying death glare. Karin inwardly shivered at the look directed at her but she didn't show it. Sakura's glare was something most people were afraid to be at the other end of and if looks could kill, Karin would've been on her way to the afterlife right now.

Sakura, on the other hand, glared at the girl who kept on trying to torment her and her friends. She can even see in her peripheral vision the redhead's posse snickering at their table. Though, what made her more irritated was the fact that Karin was far too close to the transfer student than she liked. She did not like those arms that wrapped around the limb of the handsome young man. It bothered her to no end.

Sure he just transferred to this school today but Sakura's irritation at Karin's advances burned. She shifted her gaze away from the two and started eating her lunch, ignoring the things happening around her and she missed the amused look that a certain transfer student sent towards her direction.

Ino smirked and turned to Tenten. Both shared a glance. They knew that look on Sakura's face. They knew it too well since they've been friends for a long time now. Even Hinata knew that look but she chose not to show her recognition of it. It was obvious to the three girls.

Haruno Sakura was jealous.

Ino, being  _Ino_ , was giddy to see her best friend finally show an interest in a guy, and not some imaginary boyfriend she came up with. So, being the  _amazing_  friend that she was, it was her sacred duty to create an opening for these two to 'bond'. She wore her most charming smile and faced the handsome transfer student. "Hello there, Uchiha-san. Would you like to join us for lunch?"

Neji and Naruto were about to protest but Tenten elbowed her boyfriend in the ribs while Hinata offered to feed Naruto, interrupting his complaint. They were both aware of Ino's plan, or the gist of it, and wanted to help out. The remaining uninvolved people on the table just sat back (or in Shikamaru's case, continued to sleep) and watched the confrontation unfold.

"As if my Sasuke-kun would sit with you losers!" Karin snorted and started to pull Sasuke away. "Let's go to my table!" But the Uchiha didn't budge and gave her a glare instead.

"I believe that it's my own decision which group I choose to sit with. I don't need to be dragged around." He coldly stated. Karin shivered at his tone but smiled nonetheless.

"Of course, Sasuke-kun." She said and released his arm. "Follow me."

"No." He simply replied. Karin gaped at this while Ino refrained from squealing in glee.  _'Ha! Take that Karin!'_

"What was that, Sasuke-kun?" Karin asked in a disbelieving tone.

"No." He then turned to Ino. "I'll take you up on that offer."

The blonde girl beamed in delight. Karin huffed indignantly and stalked off towards her friends' table. When she settled down, she sent an annoyed look at the direction of the group, as if telling them ' _I'm watching you_ '. Ino only grinned smugly at her.

"Well then, why don't you sit over there?" Ino pointed at the small space beside Sakura. They were both sitting at end of their table, so Sakura only had to move to her left to make space. "Sakura!" She called. Sakura raised a brow at her, still ignoring the transfer student. Ino almost growled in frustration. "Move!" she said while gesturing for the rosette to give some space.

Sakura rolled her eyes but moved nonetheless to give enough space for Sasuke to sit on. Once he was settled, Ino began to talk.

"Hey there Uchiha Sasuke-san! My name is Yamanaka Ino. We're in the same class." She introduced. Sasuke nodded in acknowledgement. "Let me introduce you to the group." She then started to point at every person in the group and gave a short introduction of them. She even hit Shikamaru upside the head just for him to wake up and grunt "Troublesome" before going back to sleep.

"And last, but definitely not the least, this is Haruno Sakura." She pointed at the said girl. "She's one of the smartest people around but has one hell of a temper. She can be rather weird sometimes but you'll get used to it."

"'Weird'?" Sasuke repeated in an almost questioning manner; a smirk present on his lips.

Sakura glared at Ino, threatening her to say anything but the latter just ignored her. "Yeah, she even tells us about this imaginary boyfriend of hers. Actually, she says that he goes to the same school as you. Maybe you know him."

"Ino." Sakura warned in the most threatening tone she possessed. This time, Ino listened and smiled sheepishly at him. However, Sasuke didn't see her expression because he was busy staring at Sakura. The blonde grinned at this. Then, she shifted her eyes to Sakura and noticed her fiddling with something. Ino's eyes narrowed, curiosity creeping in as she tried to get a better look at what her friend was holding, but to no avail. Oh well, she'll just have to ask Sakura about that later. Right now, her mission was to get Sakura to get together with Sasuke and make her forget about that imaginary boyfriend of hers. Ino was about to say something when she was beaten to it by Sasuke.

"That should be worn on your finger, not around your neck." With that, all conversation around the table stopped and they all turned to Sakura, who had dropped the item she was fiddling with.

Ino's eyes widened when she saw that it wasn't a pendant that Sakura was playing with. It was a ring that was attached to her silver necklace. Before she can comment on it, she was interrupted yet again. This time, by Sakura.

"It's none of your business!" She said with a huff, still not looking at him.

He raised a brow at her hostile behaviour. A few seconds passed and a look of realization seemed to dawn on his face. He smirked and said in a cool tone. "You're jealous."

"Jealous of what?" she asked indignantly.

"Karin."

The group watched with surprise as Sakura stammered. "Jealous? Me? _Of Karin?_ As if!" She sniffed derisively.

Ino smirked. "But you were, Forehead! I saw you! You were jealous when Karin was with Uchiha-san!"

"You were, Sakura-chan? You mean you also like this guy?" Naruto pointed at Sasuke. "But you just met him!"

"Ugh! Don't you believe in love at first sight, Naruto?" Ino groaned. "Oh yeah, you don't... seeing as you're a retard with a romantic capability of a rock."

"Hey! I resent that!"

"Whatever... Forehead was so jealous." The blonde female commented.

"No I was not!" Sakura retorted. Her face contorted into an annoyed expression. "Why would I be jealous of Karin of all people?  _Karin?_  And over  _him_?" she pointed at the smirking Uchiha. "I don't think so. Like hell I'm going to be—" she was cut off when a pair of hands grabbed her face...

... And a warm pair of lips met hers.

Ino gasped. Tenten gaped. Hinata's eyes widened in shock. Naruto stopped in middle of putting ramen inside his mouth. Neji blinked several times, not believing his eyes. Kiba's jaw dropped. Shino was still. Lee was screaming about 'his Cherry Blossom being violated'. Chouji stopped eating for a moment. Karin's screech echoed throughout the cafeteria. A chorus of gasps coming from the female population resounded all throughout the room.

Sakura was shocked by Sasuke's sudden actions but, a few moments later, she found herself responding with much fervour. Her arms made their way around his neck and pulled him closer. Her hands got lost in his dark mane as she deepened the kiss. One of Sasuke's hands snaked around her waist while his other one played with her roseate locks. His teeth grazed her lips, making her open her mouth slightly to let out a whimper.

Their kiss lasted for several seconds before Sasuke pulled away with a wide smirk on his lips.

"Hn. Definitely jealous." He commented.

"Shut up, Sasuke-kun." Sakura pouted. She still looked flushed from that kiss.

"Oh... my... god..." Ino managed to say and hell broke loose.

"Holy shi-!"

"What the fu-!"

"Son of a-!"

"Oh my gosh, Sakura!"

"My Cherry Blossom, what-!"

"Sa-Sa-Sa-Sa-Sakura-chan... wha-"

The exclamations were all said at the same time that nothing of what her friends said made any sense. Until Ino slammed her hand on the table and demanded. "What the hell just happened?"

"We kissed." Sakura replied bluntly.

"I know that! We saw it! But... but... but... What the hell?" Naruto was the one who spoke this time.

Sakura sighed and was about to play with her necklace again, since it had become a sort of habit, when she found that it was gone. Her eyes widened in shock and when she looked down, it really wasn't there. She was about to panic when Sasuke grabbed her left hand.

She looked at him in question but he just smirked at her and inserted something cool into her finger. When she looked at her hand, she found the ring that was on her necklace just a little while ago.

"I prefer to see it on your finger."

"You're so cute, Sasuke-kun." Sakura smiled and poked his cheek.

"Hn." He grunted.

Then, the rosette pouted. "But you're mean... not telling me that you'll be transferring here. I could've at least met you at the airport."

He shrugged and replied. "Where's the fun in that?"

"Hello? Being ignored here! An explanation please?" Ino interrupted.

Sakura sighed and entwined her fingers with Sasuke's. "Guys... this is my boyfriend, Uchiha Sasuke."

" _WHAT?_ " The whole group yelled in unison.

"But we were so sure you made him up! He was imaginary! We all thought that! There was no way! Then all of a sudden... were you really together since first year?" Ino asked.

"Well, our families have been doing business with each other for some time now, so I've known him for a while. But I think we actually got together about a year before first year... right, Sasuke-kun?" Sakura turned to him.

He nodded. "Aa."

"Holy crap... so your imaginary boyfriend wasn't imaginary at all? Why didn't you tell us?" Naruto exclaimed.

"Are you an idiot? I've been telling you, haven't I? You just didn't want to believe me! That's your fault, not mine." She then averted her attention to Sasuke. "Don't you agree?"

But Sasuke had this expression on his face that showed that he was occupied with his thoughts.

"Is something wrong, Sasuke-kun?" Sakura asked worriedly.

"I'm not your boyfriend."

"Ha! So he  _was_  imaginary after all! I knew it and Sasuke was just playing along!" Naruto yelled. But Ino had a really fast thought process when it came to these things and, by now, she had already placed two and two together. Her eyes widened in shock at the realization she made.

"Of course you are, Sasuke-kun." Sakura said with slight confusion.

Sasuke frowned. "No, I'm not." He started, before smirking. "I'm your fiancée, remember?"

There was silence for a few seconds before another simultaneous shout echoed throughout the cafeteria.

" _FIANCEE?_ "


End file.
